NH seeks trial forMaine man in 2005 slaying

OSSIPPEE, N.H. — The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office is asking a judge to consider a motion that could lead to a murder trial for a Maine man sent to the state hospital for killing a 14-year-old girl.

WCSH-TV in Portland says James Mann of Fryeburg, Maine, was released from the state hospital and sent to a halfway house a few months ago.

In 2007 the state dropped murder and assault charges against Mann after finding him incompetent to stand trial for the 2005 murder of Jasmine Steele in Chatham, N.H.

Mann has a history of paranoid schizophrenia.

Jasmine’s mother Charlene Steele says if Mann is well enough to be in a halfway house, he can stand trial.

Police say Jasmine was shot and killed and another person wounded by Mann.

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